Goldman Sachs executive sees more M&A after Trump's tax bill: FAS

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS.N) expects a pickup in cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity due to President Donald Trump’s tax reform, high cash levels and technological progress, a senior executive told a German paper.

“It is quite possible that (U.S.) corporations will further consolidate their home market and take over competitors,” Wolfgang Fink, co-chief of Goldman Sachs in Germany, told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

“I therefore expect more M&A activity, though not just inside the United States, but also across borders,” he added.

Trump in late December signed a far-reaching tax package, the largest such overhaul since the 1980s, which slashes the corporate rate from 35 percent to 21 percent.

Fink also confirmed that Goldman Sachs planned to double its staff in Frankfurt in light of Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, adding that could change in case of a hard Brexit, a total separation from the EU.

Fink had said in September that the bank may triple or even quadruple staff numbers under alternative scenarios.